Staff Pick

A day at the beach like no other! A boy finds an old camera that has washed ashore and thus begins an incredible story-in-pictures. As beautiful and intriguing as any of his previous books, Flotsam is a Wiesner classic — a treat for kids and adults alike. Recommended by Callie, Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A bright, science-minded boy goes to the beach equipped to collect and examine flotsam — anything floating that has been washed ashore. Bottles, lost toys, small objects of every description are among his usual finds. But there's no way he could have prepared for one particular discovery: a barnacle-encrusted underwater camera, with its own secrets to share...and to keep.

In each of his amazing picture books, David Wiesner has revealed the magical possibilities of some ordinary thing or happening — a frog on a lily pad, a trip to the Empire State Building, a well-known nursery tale. This time, a day at the beach is the springboard into a wildly imaginative exploration of the mysteries of the deep, and of the qualities that enable us to witness these wonders and delight in them.

Review:

"Filled with inventive details and delightful twists, each snapshot is a tale waiting to be told." School Library Journal

Review:

"In Wiesner's much-honored style, the paintings are cinematic, coolly restrained and deliberate, beguiling in their sibylline images and limned with symbolic allusions. An invitation not to be resisted." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"Like Chris Van Allsburg's books and Wiesner's previous works, this visual wonder invites us to rethink how and what we see, out in the world and in our mind's eye." Booklist

Video

About the Author

'David Wiesner's interest in visual storytelling dates back to high school days when he made silent movies and drew wordless comic books. Born and raised in Bridgewater, New Jersey, he graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration. While a student, he created a painting nine feet long, which he now recognizes as the genesis of Free Fall, his first book of his own authorship, for which he was awarded a Caldecott Honor Medal in 1989. David won his first Caldecott Medal in 1992 for Tuesday, and he has gone on to win twice more: in 2002 for The Three Pigs and in 2007 for Flotsam. He is only the second person in the award\'s history to win the Caldecott Medal three times. David and his wife, Kim Kahng, and their two children live near Philadelphia, where he devotes full time to illustration and she pursues her career as a surgeon.'

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating based on 5 comments:

robo1224, August 7, 2010 (view all comments by robo1224)
People talk too much! People fill up the air with speech. Many books are bursting with words that say nothing. In the midst of this, it's a treasure to find a small volume that has no words at all, and yet speaks louder and says more than many other books can. A quiet book it may be, but it'a a book that will stir the inner spirit out of quietness.

Vibrant pictures, thoughtful imagery, delicious surprises. A book to be 'read' over and over! *smile*

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(4 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)

Patrick Lonergan, July 4, 2010 (view all comments by Patrick Lonergan)
The pictures in Wiesner's story are worth well more than a thousand words apiece, as the story of an antique camera's journey through time is told. The book is very suspenseful, and I could not wait to see where Wiesner was going with a story that I found reminiscent of the childhood thrill of tying a note to a helium balloon and waiting to discover where it landed. The vivid illustrations nearly jump off the page, especially the odd underwater photos and the action shot toward the end when the boy takes his own picture to add to the collection of photos that have filtered through time. The book will delight young children as they use their own imaginations to tell the story based on the illustrations within.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(4 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)

Kris_VandenBerg, October 8, 2008 (view all comments by Kris_VandenBerg)
For children - or people who appreciate children - or people who appreciate imagination. I have purchased this particular book to be given as an AWARD to groups of adults, and to specific children, and to grandparents of children who will understand that stories can be told - via pictures - without words. The books have been passed around until they are frayed. Congratulations to an author/illustrator who understands that a "story" does not always need words - and that the audience could include grandparents, not only children. I have purchased other books "written" and illustrated by this same author. RISD should be very proud of their Alumnus.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(6 of 21 readers found this comment helpful)

A day at the beach like no other! A boy finds an old camera that has washed ashore and thus begins an incredible story-in-pictures. As beautiful and intriguing as any of his previous books, Flotsam is a Wiesner classic — a treat for kids and adults alike.

by Callie

"Review"
by School Library Journal,
"Filled with inventive details and delightful twists, each snapshot is a tale waiting to be told."

"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"In Wiesner's much-honored style, the paintings are cinematic, coolly restrained and deliberate, beguiling in their sibylline images and limned with symbolic allusions. An invitation not to be resisted."

"Review"
by Booklist,
"Like Chris Van Allsburg's books and Wiesner's previous works, this visual wonder invites us to rethink how and what we see, out in the world and in our mind's eye."

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